I think this is probably well known but removing  a rear wheel for a puncture etc. can be very difficult. The centre spigot that the wheel locates on can rust and almost weld itself to an alloy wheel (something to do with electrolytic reaction between dissimilar metals). I needed to remove a wheel yesterday and found it almost impossible. Removing the wheel bolts had no effect and I eventually I had to use a lump hammer and block of wood to hit the wheel (on the tyre) very hard before it loosened. Fortunately I was at home and I used a trolley jack to support the car; this would have been impossible and very dangerous at the side of a road with the car's own jack. I checked all the other wheels and found that the front wheels came off easily for some reason but the other rear wheel also had to have the heavy hammer treatment. 

Obviously I cleaned the rust off the wheels and the brake hub and applied some copper slip grease to the rusted areas so, hopefully, this problem will be prevented in future. I strongly suggest that members of the forum check their wheels before they get stranded with a puncture in a tyre where the wheel won't come off.

A good trick I was told is to undo the wheel bolts 2 turns before jacking the car, then give it a good shove sideways, hopefully momentum of swinging body frees up the stuck wheel

Nothing much changes with vehicles be it Drums or Discs, and Steel Wheels or Alloys.

Get them off after you buy a vehicle and do the preventative maintenance, and do Pre Winter & Post Winter Servicing.

Like in the old days when cars were Serviced not just given Oil & Filter changes.

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/234425-removing-wheel-am-i-missing-something-obvious

 

I hadn't realised that this problem was so well known and not just on Skodas. Apparently the same problem has existed for years on all VAG cars. BTW, someone told me that another way of loosening a wheel was to undo all the bolts a few turns, leaving them on of course, and drive the car up and down a curb a few times.

Some might do that, and works on some cars sometimes, but even AA, RAC, Greenflag responders can have issues, 

and winter time / night time wet roads, Snow, Slush and the likes and it is all a bit risky.

Prevention is better than having the issue occur.

4 hours ago, Offski said:

Nothing much changes with vehicles be it Drums or Discs, and Steel Wheels or Alloys.

Get them off after you buy a vehicle and do the preventative maintenance, and do Pre Winter & Post Winter Servicing.

Like in the old days when cars were Serviced not just given Oil & Filter changes.

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/234425-removing-wheel-am-i-missing-something-obvious

 

Offski, when you say preventative maintenance, in your opinion what would you suggest? Thanks 

What sort of annoys me that not all VW Group cars have radial slots on their alloys, SEAT seem to and maybe the 6C Polo alloys do, but not all the rest.

 

My 2011 Audi S4 was a real pain in the neck the first time that I tried to remove its wheel when I bought it at 2.5 years old - and the rusting up of the centre of the hubs was shocking.

4 minutes ago, EdHru said:

Offski, when you say preventative maintenance, in your opinion what would you suggest? Thanks 

 

Eh, work it out.

You remove the wheels with the tools you have on the car when you might need to change a wheel then you know that you can.

Then on the surfaces showing rust in the pictures, hopefully not yet on your new car, you apply a little amount of copper slip.

So the hub centre and where that faces to the alloy wheel.

 

Not any on bolts or wheel stud seatings or on threads.

Then put the wheels back on using your wheel brace.

Then torque them up to the correct torque with a suitable torque wrench and see how much more that feels than when using the Wheel spanner you have with you.

Edited 28 September, 20187 yr by Offski

@EdHru, I was not trying to kick you in "the parts" there, I was just shocked that when presented with the pictures, you had not sus'd what could be done to avoid that problem.

No malice intended.

Clean all mating faces to remove oxide corrosion, particularly the white alloy oxide. Use steel wool. Wash down using solvent like brake cleaner. Apply a thin smear of grease on centre spigot and around the mating hole in the alloy. A tiny bit of grease on the hub edge.

 

LM bearing grease or high temp brake grease. Copperslip is fine on steel wheels but will cause further electrolytic corrosion on alloy wheels so is not suitable despite what others may say. 

 

The main hub surface and mating alloy surface must be grease free. These faces when bolted together transmit torque and shouldn't slip which transfers shear forces on the bolts.

 

Bolts and threads should be clean but NOT greased or lubed. 

 

Torque in correct sequence to 120Nm for most Skoda alloys 

33 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

@EdHru, I was not trying to kick you in "the parts" there, I was just shocked that when presented with the pictures, you had not sus'd what could be done to avoid that problem.

No malice intended.

 

No offence taken. I have always applied copper grease when changing winter wheels on wife's car after a clean. Just wanted to ascertain what other members were doing. I haven't taken wheels of my fabia yet. Will have a look over the weekend what is the current situation like on them.

That's the way, I do that on both cars!

Xman is correct, don't use copper slip on alloy wheels where they meet the hub centres. Over time it will often react with the alloy causing corrosion and seizure of the wheel to the hub. 

Been there. Got that Tee Shirt.

 

Many times over the years. 

 

If you don’t remove and clean up your wheels at least once a year, there’s a high risk they won’t want to come off when you need to.

 

The tricks mentioned above may prove smarter than the big hammer approach. Years ago I put a small dent in Lupo side panel during the Big Hammer & Crowbar battle.

 

I’ve not had any problems with Coppaslip at all. Any grease is better than nothing on the contact surfaces.

 

Now lubing bolts is another story ................

....If you took your wheels off and rotated them every 4-6 months, you would eliminate this problem. Never had it happen yet!

Many manufacturers do not recommend rotating wheels these days. 4-6 months is way too often anyway. You'll wear out your wheels hub threads real quick. All you need is the very thinnest smear of standard LM high temperature grease around the mounting hole. It wont react with the alloy like coppaslip does. And by the way, whether coppaslip reacts on your particular wheels is down to how good a condition the paint is on your wheel around it's centre mounting hole at the back.

Edited 29 September, 20187 yr by Estate Man

For some reason I changed to the stuff that gets sold for lub'ng brake pads Certec?  A "bonus" with it is, as it comes in a small tube there is not much chance of you putting too much on!

 

I've also found that once you have coated the wheel centres and hub centre a couple of times, if you swop wheels over summer/winter you don't need to add any more every year - well eventually as you wipe off the mating surfaces the Certec will eventually disappear and need a spot more.

9 hours ago, BoxerBoy said:

Been there. Got that Tee Shirt.

 

Many times over the years. 

 

If you don’t remove and clean up your wheels at least once a year, there’s a high risk they won’t want to come off when you need to.

 

The tricks mentioned above may prove smarter than the big hammer approach. Years ago I put a small dent in Lupo side panel during the Big Hammer & Crowbar battle.

 

I’ve not had any problems with Coppaslip at all. Any grease is better than nothing on the contact surfaces.

 

Now lubing bolts is another story ................

 

My Coppaslip will end up "seeing my out" at this rate, bought in roughly 1978 from the QH outlet that was near Murrayfield!

RE Paint, coatings, Powder Coating and refinishing wheels. 

Be sure that the mating face to the Hub Centre and the seating for the wheel bolts or nuts are not coated unless this is a heat resistant coating and powder coating or paint is likely not, and the heat can melt and the wheels become lose as many find.

 

But then wheel refinnishers should know that.

 

Even the Matting face between a wheel and the flat of a hub can have this issues.

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/283143-powder-coated-alloys

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/281008-powder-coated-wheels-safety-issue

 

Edited 29 September, 20187 yr by Offski

Going slightly of topic

Many years ago, I had a from new Ford Sierra.

I had a puncture and thought no problem just put the spare on. These were the days before “Micky Mouse” spares.

Unfortunately, when the car was built the wheel bolts had been over tightened as were impossible to undo using the standard tools.

I had to call out a tyre company and they had problems getting the bolts out and had to resort to using a pipe on the end of their wheel wrench.

Since then I have always checked the wheel bolts after having a new car and have found on several occasions the same problem

I think the issue John is that many cars require their wheel bolts to be torqued to 120nm these days. Some even higher to 140nm. It's pretty difficult to move them if you need to take the wheel off with the standard tools. You need a good amount of weight on the wheel wrench to break the clamping force, and it usually means all your body weight administered with a foot to the wrench! Not for the faint hearted. The factory uses air tools carefully calibrated to torque the bolts to the required spec. I usually use a breaker bar to undo them and this does it easily. Most of my tools are 'Snap-on' professional stuff, but a really good breaker bar can be had on Ebay for around £12. Just don't use it to do up the bolts again! Use a torque wrench. 

Edited 2 October, 20187 yr by Estate Man

Had 3 Sierras. Loved 'em.

Buy a torque wrench and keep it in the boot.

With respect, the problem with Skoda/VW etc. rear wheels is not related to over tightening wheel bolts although it's a very valid point that is made about the problem of over tightening wheel bolts. BTW Skoda wheel bolts need to be tightened to 120Nm. It's certainly a good thing to carry a better wheel brace in the boot; The extending type with a socket on the end are quite good - the standard wheel brace is absolutely rubbish for slackening wheel bolts even if they've been tightened to the correct setting.